“The world and everything in it is unplanned accident, existence is meaningless; the past is irrelevant; nothing matters.”
Outline
NOTHING MATTERS
Unplanned accident
Grendel meeting the dragon was unplanned, and him being able to listen is also unplanned
Grendel coming to the castle on the day that Beowulf was there
slipping on blood in making him lose his balance
World is meaningless
meaning: significance of certain events that will have an impact in the future.
meaning of existence for characters in beowulf is to make the gods happy
not shown anywhere in text, there are no gods. When Wealtheow screams to gods, no gods come to save her
pain, meaning there is no meaning to existence
Grendel states “…and suddenly I knew I was dealing with no dull mechanical bull but with thinking creatures, pattern makers, the most dangerous things I’d ever met” pg 27, there is no meaning
People just die, unnoticed sometimes, existence has no affect
"I understood that the world was nothing: a mechanical chaos of casual, brute enmity on which we stupidly impose our hopes and fears. I understood that, finally and absolutely, I alone exist. All the rest, I saw, is merely what pushes me, or what I push against, blindly—as blindly as all that is not myself pushes back."
when people killed each other after an argument, nothing matters when they still are able to live in society
"Except in the life of a hero, the whole world is meaningless. The hero sees values beyond what's possible. That's the nature of a hero. It kills him, of course, ultimately. But it makes the whole struggle of humanity worthwhile." 89
Past is irrelevent
Beowulf had lost a race and was thought to have been a disgrace, but he came up strong and was able to take throne
A man killed his siblings, but was still able to live in the kingdom of Hrothgar
A man with no power in society, and of any ruling kingdom in the past, was able to risk his life in saving the greatest hero in "their" history by basically helping Beowulf by risking his life to Grendel.
Statement
Life is full of events and problems where existence and the past are meaningless into what may become of the future. They are all series of "luck" events where nobody knows what may happen for sure to them or to the others. Everything in the world comes to an end one way or another having no true meaning in our future afterlife. Grendel meeting the dragon was unexpected and Grendel hearing some of the stories told by the Shaper and seeing Wealtheow in those precise moments were also unexpected. Nobody would have known certain words and certain actions were going to be said throughout the whole life of Grendel and also Beowulf. Even when Unferth had killed his brothers, he was still able to live in the kingdom of Hrothgar, which is stating that the past is irrelevant. Everything will be gone and dead sooner or later, helping prove that nothing in the world really matters at all.Grendel states “…and suddenly I knew I was dealing with no dull mechanical bull but with thinking creatures, pattern makers, the most dangerous things I’d ever met” pg 27, which is saying that there would be no meaning to life. "I understood that the world was nothing: a mechanical chaos of casual, brute enmity on which we stupidly impose our hopes and fears. I understood that, finally and absolutely, I alone exist. All the rest, I saw, is merely what pushes me, or what I push against, blindly—as blindly as all that is not myself pushes back." pg76. Grendel says this. And it is merely just saying that he doens't know what will happen in the future, five minutes later or five month. He doesn't know what to expect when will something happen, which is saying that everything in the world is unplanned. By certain decisions being made, the past won't have an impact to the choices that the person makes for the future."Except in the life of a hero, the whole world is meaningless. The hero sees values beyond what's possible. That's the nature of a hero. It kills him, of course, ultimately. But it makes the whole struggle of humanity worthwhile." 89 Unferth states that the world is meaningless. There is no hero though, unlike what Unferth tries to prove. No person in the world was able to see the values beyond what was possible. From both stories, none of the characters had any luck in seeing the values beyond what was possible. There are no heroes, and life is meaningless.
Questioning
Grendel: You were teh decent of Cane, and he was a humam, but u were born as an animal. Do you called that planned? Did you know in your birth that your father was dead? Why? Was that planned? How did your mother lose her use of language? Would you have known that would happen? Would you call it unplanned? Tell us your history in life. What would your definition of unplanned accident be? (an event that wasn’t thought to have happened by chance unexpectedly and unintentionally) You said that the earth was mechanical. What do you mean by that? What would you call slipping on blood when fighting Beowulf? Would you call it unplanned? Did you meet the dragon? Did you plan it? What did you learn from the dragon? Did you notice the ram rampaging your years before the war? What type of incident would you call this? Do you believe in gods ruling over the people? Why? So what do you think will happen after you die? What do you think of shaper and his “help” to the people? Does living have any meaning to your "life" that you may have after death? Are there any point of living in this world? Why? Why didn’t you kill Wealtheow when you had the chance? Why did you say that you had an accident on page 174? Hrothgar What would you say the meaning of life is? You are forgotten in the world. Can you find one word saying ur name or mentioning you in the part where Beowulf had finally become king? Everyone has forgotten about you and the past has nothing to do with you when the Geats are finally going to lose to their neighboring nations. pg. 53, Grendel Do you say that family, love, and homour make life meaningful? "And as for Hrothgar, if he was serious about his idea of glory--sons and sons' sons giving out treasure--I had news for him. If he had sons, they wouldn't hear his words. They would weigh his silver and gold in their minds. I've watched the generations. I've seen their weasel eyes." Unferth Did you say that the whole world was meaningless? "Except in the life of a hero, the whole world is meaningless. The hero sees values beyond what's possible. That's the nature of a hero. It kills him, of course, ultimately. But it makes the whole struggle of humanity worthwhile." 89 You said this. So your saying that the world is meaningless? It has no meaning in life. Since a hero tries to act in his own nature, it kills him? which also means that existence is meaningless. "No man above us will ever know whether Unferth died here or fled to the hills like a coward. Only you and I and God will know the truth. That's inner heroism." (Unferth, at Grendel's feet in his cave) pg 88 Nobody knows why you were there or what happened. What’s the point of living and acting as a hero? Nobody cares how you had died. As the years go on, everyone dies, kingdom falls, people are forgotten. They have no meaning? Existence is meaningless Ork you state that nothing is lost. Did you lose your sight? Do you know the reason? Was it unplanned? Did you meet the destroyer? Was that also planned? Wealtheow Do you also say that love is part of life? But you had married Hrothgar..
Reflection of John Gardner's Letter
From reading this letter, I was able to learn immensely on the opposites and the points of views of the author. I was able to notice what the author had meant when he had been putting in those certain characters, such as the Dragon, and Grendel, and the characters' theories on if life had a meaning or not. I was finally able to notice that Grendel's view of the world, was not the best way to belief and think of the work, and that there are certain cases where people should strive the make the best out of the world, even if there's no meaning to existence. I was able to figure out exactly what these characters trying to state from their lines and what each of them had on the meaning of life. John Gardner gave a lot of clarity on these issues and had helped me learn more about each of these characters' perspectives and the positions that they would need to play in the Thursday debate. From the letter, I also learned about the relationships between the dragon and also Beowulf, and also points in helping me prepare for my argument and position. The dragon and Beowulf, I learned more about, have opposing viewpoints, and the John Gardner specifically tells the reasons to why that was in the way that he wrote it. The idea of everything dying in history, with the examples of Aristotle and Plato, and the other many works done by philosophers, also gave me more arguments to help support my position. It was a great resource for me to learn more about the ideas and the reasons to why John Gardner had made such characters think in the certain way that they did. It was an entertaining type of "backing-up" information, where I was able to be more confident and with less confusion on the certain ideas and points.
Outline
NOTHING MATTERS
- People just die, unnoticed sometimes, existence has no affect
- "I understood that the world was nothing: a mechanical chaos of casual, brute enmity on which we stupidly impose our hopes and fears. I understood that, finally and absolutely, I alone exist. All the rest, I saw, is merely what pushes me, or what I push against, blindly—as blindly as all that is not myself pushes back."
- when people killed each other after an argument, nothing matters when they still are able to live in society
"Except in the life of a hero, the whole world is meaningless. The hero sees values beyond what's possible. That's the nature of a hero. It kills him, of course, ultimately. But it makes the whole struggle of humanity worthwhile." 89Statement
Life is full of events and problems where existence and the past are meaningless into what may become of the future. They are all series of "luck" events where nobody knows what may happen for sure to them or to the others. Everything in the world comes to an end one way or another having no true meaning in our future afterlife. Grendel meeting the dragon was unexpected and Grendel hearing some of the stories told by the Shaper and seeing Wealtheow in those precise moments were also unexpected. Nobody would have known certain words and certain actions were going to be said throughout the whole life of Grendel and also Beowulf. Even when Unferth had killed his brothers, he was still able to live in the kingdom of Hrothgar, which is stating that the past is irrelevant. Everything will be gone and dead sooner or later, helping prove that nothing in the world really matters at all.Grendel states “…and suddenly I knew I was dealing with no dull mechanical bull but with thinking creatures, pattern makers, the most dangerous things I’d ever met” pg 27, which is saying that there would be no meaning to life. "I understood that the world was nothing: a mechanical chaos of casual, brute enmity on which we stupidly impose our hopes and fears. I understood that, finally and absolutely, I alone exist. All the rest, I saw, is merely what pushes me, or what I push against, blindly—as blindly as all that is not myself pushes back." pg76. Grendel says this. And it is merely just saying that he doens't know what will happen in the future, five minutes later or five month. He doesn't know what to expect when will something happen, which is saying that everything in the world is unplanned. By certain decisions being made, the past won't have an impact to the choices that the person makes for the future."Except in the life of a hero, the whole world is meaningless. The hero sees values beyond what's possible. That's the nature of a hero. It kills him, of course, ultimately. But it makes the whole struggle of humanity worthwhile." 89 Unferth states that the world is meaningless. There is no hero though, unlike what Unferth tries to prove. No person in the world was able to see the values beyond what was possible. From both stories, none of the characters had any luck in seeing the values beyond what was possible. There are no heroes, and life is meaningless.
Questioning
Grendel:
You were teh decent of Cane, and he was a humam, but u were born as an animal. Do you called that planned?
Did you know in your birth that your father was dead? Why?
Was that planned?
How did your mother lose her use of language?
Would you have known that would happen?
Would you call it unplanned?
Tell us your history in life.
What would your definition of unplanned accident be? (an event that wasn’t thought to have happened by chance unexpectedly and unintentionally)
You said that the earth was mechanical. What do you mean by that?
What would you call slipping on blood when fighting Beowulf?
Would you call it unplanned?
Did you meet the dragon?
Did you plan it?
What did you learn from the dragon?
Did you notice the ram rampaging your years before the war?
What type of incident would you call this?
Do you believe in gods ruling over the people?
Why?
So what do you think will happen after you die?
What do you think of shaper and his “help” to the people?
Does living have any meaning to your "life" that you may have after death?
Are there any point of living in this world? Why?
Why didn’t you kill Wealtheow when you had the chance?
Why did you say that you had an accident on page 174?
Hrothgar
What would you say the meaning of life is?
You are forgotten in the world. Can you find one word saying ur name or mentioning you in the part where Beowulf had finally become king?
Everyone has forgotten about you and the past has nothing to do with you when the Geats are finally going to lose to their neighboring nations.
pg. 53, Grendel
Do you say that family, love, and homour make life meaningful?
"And as for Hrothgar, if he was serious about his idea of glory--sons and sons' sons giving out treasure--I had news for him. If he had sons, they wouldn't hear his words. They would weigh his silver and gold in their minds. I've watched the generations. I've seen their weasel eyes."
Unferth
Did you say that the whole world was meaningless?
"Except in the life of a hero, the whole world is meaningless. The hero sees values beyond what's possible. That's the nature of a hero. It kills him, of course, ultimately. But it makes the whole struggle of humanity worthwhile." 89
You said this. So your saying that the world is meaningless? It has no meaning in life. Since a hero tries to act in his own nature, it kills him? which also means that existence is meaningless.
"No man above us will ever know whether Unferth died here or fled to the hills like a coward. Only you and I and God will know the truth. That's inner heroism." (Unferth, at Grendel's feet in his cave) pg 88
Nobody knows why you were there or what happened. What’s the point of living and acting as a hero? Nobody cares how you had died. As the years go on, everyone dies, kingdom falls, people are forgotten. They have no meaning? Existence is meaningless
Ork
you state that nothing is lost.
Did you lose your sight?
Do you know the reason?
Was it unplanned?
Did you meet the destroyer?
Was that also planned?
Wealtheow
Do you also say that love is part of life?
But you had married Hrothgar..
Reflection of John Gardner's Letter
From reading this letter, I was able to learn immensely on the opposites and the points of views of the author. I was able to notice what the author had meant when he had been putting in those certain characters, such as the Dragon, and Grendel, and the characters' theories on if life had a meaning or not. I was finally able to notice that Grendel's view of the world, was not the best way to belief and think of the work, and that there are certain cases where people should strive the make the best out of the world, even if there's no meaning to existence. I was able to figure out exactly what these characters trying to state from their lines and what each of them had on the meaning of life. John Gardner gave a lot of clarity on these issues and had helped me learn more about each of these characters' perspectives and the positions that they would need to play in the Thursday debate. From the letter, I also learned about the relationships between the dragon and also Beowulf, and also points in helping me prepare for my argument and position. The dragon and Beowulf, I learned more about, have opposing viewpoints, and the John Gardner specifically tells the reasons to why that was in the way that he wrote it. The idea of everything dying in history, with the examples of Aristotle and Plato, and the other many works done by philosophers, also gave me more arguments to help support my position. It was a great resource for me to learn more about the ideas and the reasons to why John Gardner had made such characters think in the certain way that they did. It was an entertaining type of "backing-up" information, where I was able to be more confident and with less confusion on the certain ideas and points.